Great Barrier hot spots under close watch

Fire ravaged bush on Great Barrier Island Friday after bush fires had swept through parts of the Island. Photo / Glyn Walters of Auckland City Council.

Fire crews will spend all week monitoring Great Barrier Island to prevent any flare ups of the fire which tore through more than 100 hectares of bush last week.

The fire was now "very well contained'' but fire crews were not letting the pressure off just yet, principal rural fire officer Bryan Cartelle said.

Up to 42 firefighting personal, including Department of Conservation staff, local firefighters and crews from Auckland, Rotorua and Nelson, were patrolling and dampening any hot spots which showed up on a thermal imagining camera.

"It's just matter of going round and round in circles methodically, backwards and forwards just trying to tighten those edges up.''

The number of people on the ground would be reduced over the next couple of days, he said.

But the Great Barrier Island fire crew would continue monitoring the area for at least the next week.

Mr Cartelle said it had been a testing time for the fire crews since the fire flared up last Tuesday.